


Team Member in Danger

by tashaxxxxxx



Category: Scorpion (TV 2014)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-01-05
Packaged: 2018-05-11 10:00:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5623282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tashaxxxxxx/pseuds/tashaxxxxxx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Walter is kidnapped from the garage and the team must work together to find him before it is too late. Terrible summary and title I know :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Don't work to late, Walter." Paige said over her shoulder as she and Ralph exited the garage. Walter paused in his work as he watched the Mother and son close the garage door. He wanted to say something to Paige's retreating figure but didn't couldn't bring himself to say anything.

Recently he had been administrating feelings towards the young Mom and he wasn't sure what they were, let alone how to express them. Toby would call them feelings of attraction but Walter didn't feel emotions. Or at least he thought he didn't. Recently he was beginning to doubt this. After Megan's recent passing his thoughts had gone to her last words. 'Don't be afraid to love', she had said but how could he love when he still wasn't sure what it meant. Frowning, Walter debated on asking Toby about this but immediately eliminated it. His feelings weren't something he felt comfortable discussing with the physiatrist.

A message beeped across Walter's phone, once more distracting him from the work on his laptop. Paige, a small smile stretched over the genius' lips. I mean it, Walter. Walter could feel his smile widen and thought about the softness of Paige's hands in his own. She used lavender hand cream, stinking up the van as Toby put it.

He had told Paige he would try to fight his nature, try to follow through with what Megan had asked him to do. And holding Paige's hand had been the first step, watching the rocket fly away with his sister's ashes. Looking at his laptop, he found the screen as blank as it had been when he started. Maybe Paige was right. It had been a long day for all of them and Walter was tired. More tired than he had been in so long.

Switching the laptop off, Walter glanced around the loft, satisfied with the state of things. Nodding to himself as he saw the mess Toby had left, a motorbike engine sitting on Happy's desk and Sylvester's organised one. Maybe it was the tiredness switching his EQ on or maybe he was finally learning. Either way, Walter walked upstairs to the lift with a smile on his face that night. Something he didn't think could be possible after his sister's passing.

….

A loud bang woke Walter from his sleep. Rubbing his eyes, the genius glanced around finding darkness greeting him. Frowning, Walter glanced at his phone. No missed calls or texts. Getting out of the bed, Walter walked to the door that separated his own apartment with the garage. Another bang froze Walter in place as his brain whirled with questions about who was downstairs. If it was of the team, they would have phoned or at least text and Walter was positive none of them would make this much noise. Even Toby was considerate when coming in late at night.

A burglar then. Walter might be able to scare the burglar off but he had left his equipment in the garage and Walter wasn't exactly intimidating. The most efficient solution would be to call Cabe and wait for the federal agent.

That might have worked if not in that moment a gunshot resounded in the garage. The burglar, who Walter was starting to realise wasn't a burglar had blown the lock on the garage door. Thinking quickly, Walter threw the only thing he had within reach at the man now entering the apartment. His phone.

The attacker jumped, most likely not anticipating an attack and Walter took a chance and ran. What he had not anticipated was the quick recovery of the man. As he passed, an arm wrapped around his left arm, twisting painfully and causing Walter to turn at just the right angle to send him tumbling down the stairs.

Blinking blearily, Walter struggled to his feet, ignoring the sharp pain that ran up his ankle. He must have sprained it while falling down the stairs. Glancing behind him, Walter didn't see the intruder but he knew that didn't man he was gone. The garage was dark and Walter could barely see 2 feet in front of him.

Moving quickly Walter went towards the front door, wishing he hadn't thrown his phone at the attacker. But hindsight was useless, Walter knew this.

Noise didn't alert Walter to the intruder behind him but the sharp pain in his skull did. A solid object, the gun most likely, had collided with his head and Walter felt himself loose his footing. Black spots appeared in his vision as he lost unconsciousness, unaware at how much worse his situation was about to get.


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm telling you now Doc that Walter will not be please." Happy stated.

"But he'll love it. A bit of paint to liven things up a bit. Phycology says that a bright working environment breeds good working ethic." Happy barely suppressed a snort of amusement at the thought of Toby and Walter having this conversation later on. "Laugh at me if you will but I am never wrong about the human psyche."

"Sure thing Doc." Happy replied as she pulled up outside the garage. Last night she had found herself going over to the Doc's place. They'd been getting closer recently and Happy, as much as she hated to admit it, enjoyed Toby's company. Anyway, it had seemed like Walter had needed his space last night. If that space involved leaving Paige and Ralph to hitch a ride back with him while the rest of the team went their separate ways, who was Happy to say any different.

"I think Walter's a step ahead of me here." Toby announced as they climbed out of Toby's beat up car. The garage door was hanging open ajar as if Walter hadn't bothered to look up last night. Frowning, Happy took a closer look to see the locks had been snapped.

Meanwhile, Toby had walked into the garage, shouting 'Walter', only to freeze. "Happy," Toby turned around a worried look on his face, "I think we need to call Cabe."

Walking into the garage, Happy nodded her consent. There was blood splattered on the floor as if someone had fallen and hit their head against the floor. The computers usually situated on the desks were thrown on the floor and the ego-thermic chairs Paige had bought were on their sides. What worried happy the most, though, was there was no sign of Walter.

"Yeah, you might be right, Doc."

…..

"What do you mean there's no sign of him." Cabe growled into his phone. He'd been on his way to the garage when Toby had phone, panic obvious in the kids' voice. When Cabe had heard what had happened he'd been at the garage in minutes. "A person can't just vanish."

"I'm sorry Agent Gallo but there have been no reports of anyone with Mr Obrien's description having been admitted to the hospital late last night." Cabe knew it was useless yelling at the receptionist at the local hospital but he was angry.

A hand on his should paused him as he looked at Paige. Taking a deep breath Cabe thanked the assistant and walked over to the rest of the team, Paige behind him. Police were around the area, taking samples and checking over the crime scene but Cabe knew they wouldn't find anything. At least nothing the team of geniuses hadn't already found. A simple shake of his head was all he needed to give in confirmation to their questioning stares.

"If Walter hasn't gone to a hospital then something is wrong." Sylvester stated, worry evident in the kids' tone. He arrived shortly after Cabe, shaking all over in anxiety. "There is a 96% chance that Walter has been kidnapped or worse." Sylvester was wringing his hands and Cab knew what the kid was thinking.

If someone had broken into Walter's apartment last night, it was very possible that he could be dead. They just hadn't found the body yet. "Walter isn't dead." Toby said, deadly serious. "There wasn't enough blood for that to be possible."

"Doc's right. The blood splatter inside says someone got hit over the head. Not shot." Happy deadpanned but Cabe could see she was as worried as the rest of them.

"But someone still took Walter." Paige was shaking, tears obvious in her eyes. The only reason she hadn't broken down yet was most likely due to the others obvious worry. Cabe had to give it to the former waitress she was nothing if not resilient.

"Most likely," Sylvester answered.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Cabe announced, glancing around.

"They won't find anything we haven't already found." Happy said, looking in the same direction Cabe was, into the garage.

"Then find more. Your geniuses, figure out where Walter is." Cabe snapped.

"What do you think we've been trying to do." Happy glared at the federal agent. "Sylvester has found nothing on Walter's cell phone or bank accounts. There is no evidence in the garage that could tell us who was there with Walter. We have nothing."

"Hey." Paige shouted, stepping in front of Cabe before he could speak. "We can't fall apart, not when Walter needs us to work together. There has to be something we can do." Paige had been the last to turn up, having dropped Ralph off at school before coming to the garage. She was also visibly the most upset about Walter's disappearance. "Just find him." That last part was said so quietly, Cabe almost missed it.

Putting a hand on her shoulder Cabe looked at the team in front of him. He might not have a psych degree like Toby but he knew they were all worried. "We will. We have to."

…..

Walter woke with a sharp pain in his head and an ache in his arms. Groaning, Walter opened his eyes, assessing his surroundings as he tried to remember what happened last night. He'd woken to banging and there had been a…. scuffle? He remembered falling down the stairs but after that everything went dark. He certainly didn't remember being brought here.

Groaning, Walter moved his head to the side, only to find his movement cut short. His hands were tied above him with rope and he seemed to be hanging from the ceiling. At least I'm still on the ground, Walter thought as he closed his eyes to stop the spinning of the room.

He must have blacked out again as when he re-awoke someone was standing in the corner of the room. "What…" Walter slurred the words, pausing him in thought. His brain wasn't working at full capacity, that much Walter had been certain of when he'd first awoken but now he realised this was a bit more serious than he had initially thought. "You drugged me?" It was spoken as if a question but Walter was very certain about it.

"I couldn't have that big brain of yours find a way out of here." The voice wasn't familiar to Walter but he couldn't be sure.

"What do you want?" Walter's words were more sure now. The drug was wearing off. He could now more clearly see the room without the blurred images that had previously assaulted his vision.

The room was square, dark and bare. A table and chair sitting in front of him approximately in the middle of the room. Stairs sat 5 feet from where Walter hung and it was dark and damp. So he was in a cellar. The room was, maybe, 7 feet in length and 8 feet in width. Small, so not a big house.

"Find anything interesting." A hand twisted painfully into his hair, pulling his head back so he was looking at the ceiling. How had he not noticed the man moving behind him.

"Don't worry, it's a common side effect of the drug. Disorientation, confusion, etc."

"Why…" Walter began but the man's hand came across to land on Walter's mouth, stopping anymore speech coming from the young genius's mouth and limiting the air Walter could take in.

"All will be explained. But first…" Walter felt the first hit before he saw it. A sharp pain in his gut as a fist collided with his abdomen. The second Walter was better prepared for but it still hurt so much. Pain laced up his body as he struggled to breathe as he hung in an upright position as more hits reigned down.

8 later, the man seemed to have had enough. Walter hung limply on the ropes holding him up, coughing and spluttering as tried to regain control. "Before we are done, Walter. You are going to feel the same pain that I felt when she died. When you killed."

"Killed who?" The man didn't answer Walter's question as a needle pricked his neck and blackness once more claimed him.


	3. Chapter 3

Paige plastered on a small smile as Ralph walked out of school. She'd left the others at the garage, the police having left a few hours ago. Sylvester had been muttering hacking a satellite while Toby and Happy were out on the streets and Cabe was yelling down his phone. It had been a long and stressful day and Paige didn't think it was going to get any better going forward. It had now been 20 hours, at least according to Sylvester, since Walter had gone missing. Paige knew the statistics of finding a missing person after the first 24 hours was slim without being a genius.

"Mom?" Ralph asked, questioning eyes looking up at her face. She hadn't even noticed he was there. "What's wrong?" Paige didn't say anything just took her sons hand and guided him to the car.

When Ralph was situated in the back seat and Paige in the driver, she took a deep breath and turned around. "Ralph, sweetie, something happened last night."

"Is Walter alright?" Ralph had always been smart and Paige loved it about him. Not now, though. Now she wished for her son to have the blissful ignorance of any other child.

"No, sweetie. He's missing."

"But how can he be missing? Walter doesn't get lost." Ralph said in a matter of fact tone.

"No, he doesn't but he's still missing." When Ralph still looked confused, Paige had to take a deep breath before continuing. For any other child, 'missing would have been enough'. But Ralph wanted facts and as hard as it would be for Paige to explain it to her son, it was the only thing she could do. "There was a break-in at the garage last night. Walter still hasn't turned up."

That seemed to be enough for Ralph and the young genius sat in silence as Paige drove to the garage. Glancing in her mirror, showed the young genius wasn't fine though. Tears were in her young son's eyes and Paige hated that she couldn't take that pain away from him.

….

Sylvester was furiously typing across his key board when Toby and Happy walked into the garage. "Well that was a waste of time." Toby announced as happy disappeared round the back of the garage. Loud hammering announced she was now hitting something. Deflection, then. Something Toby was all too aware of. "Where's Paige?"

"Went to pick up Ralph." Cabe said. The older man looked haggard, something Toby would never usually associate with the agent. Cabe was one of the few men who didn't show their age and the defeated lift in his shoulders was enough to tell Toby that Cabe was more than worried. But then the whole team were.

Happy had been quiet but she had never once volunteered to split up and look. She would argue it was because Toby was the people expert and she was not but Toby knew better. Happy hadn't wanted to leave any of them separated not when Walter was missing. In other circumstances, Toby would have been grateful she had chosen to keep an eye on him.

Sylvester still hadn't looked up from his keyboard, a crease appearing between the younger man's eyes as he stared at the computer screen. Toby knew Sylvester had run the odds of finding Walter, knew the human calculator had taken into account every variable there was. The amount of blood on the floor, their limited progress, the state of the garage, the percentage of people found after the 24-hour mark.

"Hey, Doc. You ok?" Cabe's hand on Toby's shoulder shook him out of his stupor.

"We need to find Walter." Deflection, Toby's favourite way of dealing with pain. Avoid the hurt with distractions and words until you couldn't bare it anymore.

….

"I've found something!" Sylvester shouted, making everyone in the garage jump and run over to his computer. "Here." Sylvester played the tape he had just found to the others.

A car parked outside the garage, blue ford fiesta with scratch on the right hand side, approximately 2 metres from the handle, Sylvester's brain added silently as they watched. A man walked into the garage, head covered with a hood. 10 minutes later, he returned, carrying an unconscious figure who he then dumped in the trunk of his car. It drove away with Walter inside.

The following silence was quickly broken with Paige and Ralph returning. "What's wrong?" Sylvester couldn't look Page in the eye as she walked into the garage but he could detect the worry in her voice.

"Sly found something." Toby announced, clapping Sylvester on the back. The young genius repositioned his glasses, before responding.

"The make and model of the car aren't old, in a city as big as LA, considering the number of people who own cars I estimate a …. 38% chance of locating the car we need." Sylvester didn't look to see the small smile on Paige's face fall away.

"That scratch on the side of the car makes a start and we can use Walter's photo recognition software to see if we can't find out where we could find this man." Toby continued.

"I'll get on the car." Happy announced, grabbing her jacket.

"Right, Toby go with her. I'll get onto Homeland, see if they have this car description on file." Cabe announced.

All three disappeared, leaving Paige, Ralph and Sylvester in the garage alone. "Ralph, why don't you go and play on Proton Arnold for a bit." Paige said. Ralph did so but Sylvester could see the young boy wasn't too enthusiastic about it. He was hurting, just like them all.

"You ok?" Paige asked, sitting on a chair next to Sylvester's desk.

"I should have thought to use the satellite images sooner but I didn't. If I had, we might have already found Walter." Sylvester announced.

"It's not your fault, Sly. You were upset. We all are."

"But I should have. It's been over 20 hours now Paige. The longer Walter is missing, the less chance we have of finding him." Sylvester went to continue but Paige hushed him quietly.

"I know Sylvester, but that doesn't mean we can't." She was trying to comfort him but Sylvester could hear the fear in her voice.

He wanted to comfort her but he had to state facts. "Statistically speaking, Paige, it's becoming less and less of a chance that we'll find him."

"But it's Walter." Paige said. "He has a 197 IQ. Walter will find a way out or a way to contact us." Tears were in Paige's eyes now and Sylvester hated to see Paige upset.

"I really hope so Paige."


	4. Chapter 4

When Walter woke up this time, he was tied to a chair. A sharp pain was running up his stomach, bruised ribs. Lucky, then. "You're awake then." A deep voice stated, startling Walter. The drugs might be wearing off but their lingering affect was still there.

"Why am I here?" Walter asked, finding the words were easier to get out this time around but the man in front of him didn't seem to have noticed. Cautiously, Walter moved his hands, finding he had limited movement but not uncomfortable movement.

"I told you, Walter. You killed her." The man had a darker skin tone, not American but foreign. He had a lint of an accent but with Walter's still spinning head, he couldn't place it.

"I have never killed…"

"Bagdad." The man slammed his palms on the table in front of him. "That was your software they used to drop bombs. You designed the software that killed her." Walter didn't say anything, his finger's freezing from where they had been trying to loosen the ropes around his hands. "You remember Bagdad."

"I…I didn't know they were going to drop bombs. I designed that software to drop aid packages." Walter stammered, his brain still not processing what this man had said.

"But you designed the software. Whatever reason you had, you designed it." The man came closer, his face inches from Walter's own. "It is your fault." The man's eyes were rock hard, no fear in them. Walter was no expert on the human behaviour but he could clearly tell this was a man with nothing to lose. Walter had been scared twice in his life, once when he had been hanging off the edge of the cliff and when he found out his sister would die. But he had never felt fear like this, facing a man that would do anything to make Walter hurt. Even if it meant this man's own death.

…

"I've traced the car." Happy announced Toby hot on her heels as they walked through the front door. "It was stolen last week, we have the police report and the original owner's name."

"Can we be sure he wasn't lying?" Cabe asked.

"Definitely, you see the bald patches on Mr Owen's head," Toby replied, pointing at a picture of the man, "He's of middle age and over-weight. The strength required to take a person is huge, especially to put someone in the trunk of the car. Mr Owen's here has never even visited a gym. This isn't our guy." Cabe's face dropped but he continued anyway.

"The police have any idea who stole the car?"

"Yes, they have him in custody." Happy announced. "He sold the car with new number plates last week."

"But he isn't talking." Cabe finished.

"Nope." Toby said and Cabe nodded, taking out his phone. "I'll make a few phone calls, get an interview with this guy."

"But that won't be until the morning." Paige replied, glancing outside at the darkened sky and at Ralph's sleeping form on the sofa. "That means…." Paige trailed off, tears trailing down her face as she thought about what could happen in a night.

"I know it's hard but we don't have a choice." Cabe said, placing a fatherly hand on Paige's shoulder. "Go home, get some sleep…"

"No, I want to stay here. Help as much as I can." Paige replied, knowing none of them would be going home tonight.

"Yeah, we might find something extra." Sylvester added, walking back to his computer. "Maybe we can find something we can use to make this man talk."

…..

Walter had been left for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes. He knew it was late, maybe midnight, nearly 24 hours since he'd been at the garage. It was hard to think he'd only been saying goodbye to Paige and Ralph a short while ago. A sharp twinge made Walter wince. Short shallow breathing, he reminded himself so as to not puncture his lung. His previously bruised ribs were now broken and cracked ones, making breathing highly difficult and painful.

"I want a confession. I want to hear you say you killed her." The table had been removed at some point and a wooden bat provided. 

"I can't admit something I didn't…" Walter trailed off with a sharp groan of pain as the wooden bat was driven into his stomach. 

5 hits later and Walter could feel sweat beading on his forehead, a crack had been heard. Not surprising considering the force in which the bat had been swung. "You think you are so smart; you are nothing here." The man swung his fist into Walter's head, sending the genius' head snapping back, blood trailing from his now split lip. 

"The software I designed wasn't meant to be used to drop bombs." Walter could barely keep his voice straight as the man threw all of his weight into the next swing. Walter felt the chair legs tip just before the back of his head slammed against the hard concrete floor. Black spots swam across the edges of his vision as his vision swam in and out of focus. 

"You killed her." The man grabbed a fistful of Walter's shirt, dragging the chair back to a sitting position. Walking around him, Walter winced, waiting for the next blow to come. "You killed her." The man's voice was hitching with emotion. He wasn't thinking rationally which meant nothing Walter said or did would get through to him. "Admit it." Another swing, at his hands this time.

Walter shook himself out of the memory. He had screamed after that hit, the pain still there now. With his hands tied the way they were, Walter couldn't tell which fingers had been broken. Possibly some on each hand. Either way, he knew he wouldn't be getting out of his binds anytime soon now.

After that, Walter had admitted it, hoping for at least a small reprieve but it hadn't stopped. More hits and Walter must have blacked out because the next thing he remembered was his assailant walking up the stairs and what little light had been in the basement had vanished. Darkness and silence, except for the buzzing in his ears.

Blood dripped down his forehead as Walter calculated the odds of getting out of this alive. Not high, considering his injuries. There was no way Walter would be able to escape, not unless this man made a mistake and Walter feared that by the time that happened he wouldn't be in any fit state to escape. Walter was stuck with a man that had no rational reason for keeping him here.

Emotion, the very thing Megan had told him to feel was now working against him. An overwhelming feeling of fear that Walter could barely keep at bay. There was no way out. Nothing he could do. No logic to this man's actions. Just pure and utter hate towards Walter because of something he had never meant to do.

Walter just hoped the others would be able to find him sooner rather than later.


	5. Chapter 5

Frankie Benton was the average car thief, Toby thought idly as he watched from the window as Cabe interrogated him. Clever enough to know how to hot wire a car and sell it on without the car being found. But not clever enough to cover his own tracks. "Why isn't he talking?" Happy growled from where she was standing next to Toby.

Toby understood her frustrations. This man was the only person who had any idea who had taken Walter. And he hadn't talked yet. Cabe's fists were clenched when he exited the room and Toby could see the anger emitting from the agent. "Any suggestions." Cabe turned to Toby who nodded easily.

….

"I'm not sure if this is good idea." Sylvester announced as Paige watched Toby and Cabe.

"I just wish they'd let me in there." Happy growled, causing Paige to put a restraining hand on her shoulder. She was just thankful she'd left Ralph with the sitter today. Honestly, she hadn't thought letting her son go to school would be the best idea. Especially after last night.

"Paige, maybe we should…" A loud crash cut Sylvester off mid-sentence.

"He isn't talking, he deserves worse." Happy announced and Paige couldn't help but agree. Ralph had ended up sleeping in her bed last night, something her son hadn't done since he was 5 and understood nightmares weren't real. Paige had almost broken down herself as Ralph asked if Walter was going to be alright.

"Happy's right." Paige said, glancing at Sylvester as the younger man wrung his hands nervously.

Before any of them could say any more, Toby and Cabe reappeared. "We've got a name." Cabe announced, brushing concrete dust off his shirt. "Adem Kasim. He lived in Bagdad and came to America last year." Cabe took a breath and Paige knew the next sentence before he even said it. "His daughter was killed during the bombings. He must have seen the data dump and realised it was Walter's software that we used."

"What does that mean?" Paige asked but she could guess. "He can't blame Walter, can he?"

"Apparently he does. This was organised, if not for Frankie in there we wouldn't have anything." Cabe announced to the now silent geniuses. "We need to find Walter now."

…..

Pain was a strange thing, Walter thought as his attacker stood in front of him, holding two cables. Not unlike the car battery cables Happy had lying about the garage. As more pain was applied, the more Walter felt detached. Yes, it still hurt, it hurt like nothing Walter had felt before. But it was foggy, as if it was happening to someone else.

Walter knew that wasn't a good sign. Most likely, his body was going into shock. But it was so blissful. Electricity bolted through the two jumper cables as the voltage was turned up. When this new game began, Walter had flinched every time he heard the buzz of energy. Now he could barely keep his head up, let alone have any energy left to flinch.

The red hot cables touched Walter's now bare chest, he couldn't remember losing his shirt but it had happened at some point. He opened his mouth in a silent scream but he didn't have much voice left to let out more than a grunt as electricity ran through his body. He could vaguely smell burning flesh and wondered if this was how he would die. By this man using applying to much electricity to his body. It was a faint line, between enough electricity to make it hurt and frying someone's brain.

His body sagged in relief as the cables' disengaged from his body and if not for the bonds tying him to the chair, Walter might have fallen face down on the floor. Thick fingers' pushed his chin up so he was looking this man in the eyes. "Now you know the pain I feel every day. Every day since you took my daughter from me." Walter said nothing, instead allowing his head to fall back down as the man took away his hand.

Footsteps added away and Walter thought that maybe he could rest. Gather his energy for the next round of torture. Cold water pouring on his head made Walter bolt upright, making him groan in pain as he jostled his injuries. "It isn't time for you to die quite yet. But soon." Finger's wrapped around Walter's neck and the genius could feel himself fighting for air.

Water ran down the back of his neck, making him shiver as the grip on his throat tightened. Choking, Walter went to lift his hands to try and pry the fingers away. But he couldn't. He had already accepted he wouldn't make it out of this place alive, had accepted it. But now, as blackness crept into his vision, Walter realised one thing.

He didn't want to die.

…..

Happy was hammering the piece of metal in front of her so hard she knew it would be unusable by the time she finished but she didn't care. Toby had come over a few times but Happy had simply glared at him until he walked away. Cabe had left 25 minutes ago for Adem's address. It was an hour from where they were, too long. Happy knew she could have gotten there faster than Cabe. Paige had said Cabe would deal with it, that they didn't know what weapons Kasim had and Cabe was better prepared. Happy didn't care, she just really wanted to hit him.

"You ok?" Paige asked, Happy didn't look up, didn't put the hammer down. "Happy, are you ok?"

"I'm as good as the rest of you now go." She growled at the former waitress who walked away meekly. Happy might feel bad but right now she really didn't. She was pissed and there was no calming this anger down until Walter came back.

…

"Er guys." Sylvester raised his voice to the mostly silent garage. He'd been looking through the information on Adem Kasim, just in case he could find anything that might help. He had, and it wasn't good. "Kasim has a second house, here in LA. It's a 10-minute drive from here."

Sylvester could see the gears working in Toby's head but all he could think was that Cabe was half an hour away and there was a high likelihood that he was heading in the wrong direction. Away from Walter.

"Happy, what are you doing?" Paige asked, making Sylvester look up.

"I'm driving." Sylvester slowly stood up as well, following Toby and Happy to the door.

"Walter could be there Paige." Toby said, when Paige didn't move.

"Toby and happy are right. We need to check." Sylvester added, he might be scared of most things but he couldn't miss a chance to help find Walter, even if it did lead to a dead end. Even if he was terrified about what they might find. He could see Paige slowly nodding, even as she pulled out her phone to text Cabe.

….

Walter was shaking. It was so cold. He couldn't understand why it was so cold. LA rarely got below freezing but Walter felt like it was. Logically, Walter knew it was because he was sitting in a damp cellar, shirtless, with injuries that he knew were sending him into shock and soaking. He shivered at the memory of what his attacker had done to him. Why couldn't it just end? He thought miserably.

A cotton bag had been placed over Walter's head, disorientating him and causing the panic to emerge. Blind, raw panic, that caused Walter's exhaustion to melt away. At least, Walter thought that was panic, no the panic came after. 

Ice cold water fell onto his head, soaking into the cotton, limiting his breathing so much it felt like he was drowning. He was drowning, the water going up his nose his mouth. If he had been thinking clearly Walter might have been able to calm himself down but he wasn't. He couldn't breathe and he couldn't move. The water dripped down his back, onto his pants, soaking everything. He was shivering and choking on the water. 

The cotton bag was removed and Walter coughed and splutter, feeling tears leaking from his eyes, mixing with the other water. "I need to collect few things. I'll be back in an hour." The man meant down, as if telling a friend or family member he was going grocery shopping. Walter didn't register it though, focusing on keeping his ragged breath even. 

…..

"Happy, I don't think this is a good idea." Paige said as Happy bent to pick the lock. "What if he's inside?"

"Toby and Sylvester are going to cause a distraction if he is inside or turns up." Happy replied, not glancing up as the lock popped open. "We're just going to look inside."

Paige didn't think this was a good idea, not in the slightest. They should have waited for Cabe. But she also knew that Cabe was an hour away and wouldn't be back for a while yet. And if Walter was here, Paige would never forgive herself for waiting, especially if something happened to him. Though she was sure something already had.

They crept through the downstairs, which was bare except for the bare essentials. Paige couldn't help but feel she was walking around an abandoned house. Happy pointed to a door with a bolt across as Paige came closer. A cellar door, Paige wondered why it had a lock on it but before she could say anything, a noise came from behind them. "What are you doing?" Happy whispered furiously.

"Kasim is nowhere in sight and I thought you might need a hand." Toby announced. "Sylvester is waiting in the car to tell us if he turns up."

Happy went to say something but Paige stopped her. "The more you too argue the less time we have." Paige pointed out, getting a grunt from Happy in return.

"Creepy cellar, typical that." Toby said, nodding to the cellar door Happy was about to open.

"Shut up, Toby." Happy growled, pushing the door open and walking downstairs.

Paige followed with Toby behind her. It was dark down here and the light bulb did barely anything to help. Happy paused at the bottom of the stairs and Paige was about to ask why when she saw a figure tied to a chair.

Paige gasped in surprise and horror as familiar brown eyes looked up at her. Walter.


	6. Chapter 6

Walter blinked sluggishly as the door opened. It had been 43 minutes exactly. It was too early for it to start again. 3 figures waked down the stairs and Walter frowned. There had only ever been that man. Maybe he had friends. Walter had always known is software had ruined more than a few lives in Bagdad. Maybe more than one wanted revenge.

A familiar sight gave him pause though. He must be dreaming; this couldn't be real. Walter closed his eyes, feeling his head drop again only for a familiar voice to appear in his ear. "Hey, Walt, buddy. I need you to stay awake for me ok."

"Toby…" Walter winced at the croaky quality of his voice.

"Yeah, it's me. And Happy and Paige too." Toby announced and Walter felt his eyes drift to Paige, who instantly came to his side.

"You're ok now Walter." Paige said, gently rubbing her hands through his curls. Happy appeared in Walter's vision, giving him a small smile as she pulled a knife from somewhere to cut the ropes from his hands. Walter looked blankly at his now free hands. They were bloated and some digits were purple.

"Hear you go Walter." Toby said, shrugging his jacket around Walter's shoulders. It did nothing to keep Walter warm but he didn't push it away as Toby wrapped an arm around Walter's shoulder. "Up you get." Happy had disappeared upstairs.

"Paige?" Walter croaked, helplessly looking for her.

"I'm right here, Walter." Paige said appearing at his other side. Walter nodded, his eyes drifting shut but a sharp pain in his ankle caused him to shoot awake again.

"We've got you Walter." Toby said, leading Walter up the stairs. "Paige, you go first." He said as Toby took the majority of Walter's weight up the stairs.

"Hurts…" Walter mumbled, as they stumbled through the house and too the back door. A bang from the front door made them freeze.

"Not good." Happy announced as she and Paige ran to the back door, Paige holding the door open for them and Happy heading for the van.

"I know it hurts Walter, but we need to move a bit quicker here." Toby insisted. They had gotten to the back door when shout from behind them caused Walter to stumble, almost sending both himself and Toby falling to the floor.

Paige appeared at Walter's other side, taking some of the weight. "Come on Walter, we're almost there." There was crashing behind them and Walter knew they had to move faster but he couldn't seem to make his limb cooperate.

Sylvester appeared in his vision, helping him into the back of the van. Paige disappearing and reappearing next to him. He was dimly aware of lying on his back, his head in Paige's lap as Toby said something, before the blankness claimed him once more.

….

"Walter, stay with me." Toby gently shook Walter's shoulder but Walter didn't move. His eyes were rolling in his head and Toby could tell Walter was going into shock, if he hadn't already been in it. "Happy, step on it." Toby shouted as he pressed against Walter's chest.

"Toby?" Paige was crying freely, gently stroking Walter's head. Blood matted the genius's curly hair and his face was bruised beyond recognition.

"There's a few broken ribs." Toby said as Paige nodded, glancing down at Walter.

"He's…He doesn't look good." Paige said, choking on the words. "Toby, he's barely breathing.

"One of the broken ribs is resting on his lung but it hasn't punctured it yet." Toby answered, trying to block out the obvious worry in Paige's voice.

"We're 5 minutes 30 seconds away from the nearest hospital." Sylvester shouted to the back. Tears were obvious in Sylvester's eye also and Toby nodded, knowing he had to be the strong one for now. Paige and Sylvester were breaking down and the way Happy was driving told him she was mad.

"I can get us there in 2." Happy announced.

"Oh no." Sylvester muttered as Happy put her foot down.

…

"What the hell were you thinking!" Cabe shouted as he walked into the waiting room. Sylvester ducked his head, while Happy jumped to her feet, anger coming off of her. "You could have been killed."

"We found Walter." Happy growled.

"Happy, Cabe is just worried." Paige announced. Happy stood for a moment before falling back to her sleep.

"What happened to Adem Kasim?" Toby asked. "He came into the house when we were still there."

"No sign of him, we've got uniform looking for him but so far nothing." Cabe said, anger in his tone. When he got a hold of that man he was going to kill him.

"Cabe, just calm down." Even when upset, Paige was trying to calm the situation. She glanced at her watch, closing her eyes in what must have been annoyance. "I need to pick Ralph from school."

"Paige, don't worry. I phoned the sitter. She's going to bring Ralph to the hospital for you." Toby answered and Paige nodded in relief. Cabe could see she hadn't wanted to leave in case there was any word on Walter and obviously Toby had picked up on this as well.

"How was he?" Cabe asked but the look in their eyes told him what he needed to know.

…..

It was 3 hours later when a doctor finally came towards their group. Cabe had been pacing the floor with obvious aggravation, while Sylvester was wringing his hands nervously, sitting in the uncomfortable hospital chairs. Paige had drifted off, not surprising considering the look of emotional drainage Toby had spotted on her face since they'd found out Walter was missing. Happy was reading a magazine with Ralph, though Toby could easily tell she wasn't reading it while Ralph was continuously glancing at his Mother.

As soon as the sitter had appeared with Ralph, Paige had been unable to contain herself and hugged her nine-year-old. Toby knew Ralph was similar to Walter in that he couldn't process emotion. It was a testament to how much Ralph knew, or at least guessed at, when he silently cried into his Mother's shoulder.

"How is he?" Cabe asked as soon as he spotted the Doctor. Paige jumped awake, taking Ralph's hand as the whole team stood and crowded round the Doctor.

"Are any of you family?" The Doctor started but Cabe cut him off by showing the doctor his federal agent badge. "Mr O'Brien."

"Walter." Toby interrupted. "Call him Walter."

"Walter," The Doctor nodded sympathetically. "Has suffered a number of large and severe injuries. He has numerous broken and bruised ribs, one of which came dangerously close to puncturing his lung. Thankfully it didn't and the organ is simply bruised, but he will have difficulty breathing. Walter's right ankle was sprained quite badly and he has numerous broken fingers on both hands. We've managed to re-set them so they should be in working order after a few months of recovery."

"Months?" Paige choked but Toby wasn't paying attention. Broken bones took time to heal and Toby knew Walter would hate it. His need to get back to work when still suffering the effects of the car crash was testament to that.

"Yes, Walter is also suffering a mild concussion and a fractured cheekbone as well as a number of bruises, burns and cuts. All in all, he was very lucky."

"Luck had nothing to do with it." Happy muttered, glaring at the Doctor as if he was too blame for everything.

"Can we see him?" Cabe interrupted, wanting to diffuse the situation quickly before Happy hit someone.

"He's unconscious at the moment but yes, but only for a few minutes. He was in shock and his body needs time to recover." The Doctor probably wouldn't have let them enter the room but Happy and Cabe's glares were enough to make even the stubbornness person budge.

….

He looks so small, Paige thought, looking down at Walter, lying flat on the bed. His usually tanned skin had turned ashen and he was nearly as pale as the white bedspread. She could vaguely see a hint of a bandage under his hospital gown and 5 digits (two on his right and 3 on his left) were bandaged, showing his broken fingers. He wouldn't be able to move them for a while. Paige couldn't help the tears fall as she gently brushed the back of Walter's hand with her own.

…..

Cabe stood at the entrance to the room, looking at Walter with sad eyes. He'd first met Walter when he was 11 and being arrested. Even then he didn't think he'd seen Walter look so fragile. Without the customary intelligence in his brown eyes and unflinching, sometimes incredibly stupid, way he stood, Cabe could see the thinness of the young genius. Bruises littered his skin and Cabe knew that when he got his hands on the man who did this, Cabe would make him pay.

…..

Sylvester didn't know what to do. Walter was lying down looking nothing like the person he knew. He looked almost like he was sleeping, if you looked past the bruises and split lip. He reminded Sylvester of Megan, lying on her hospital bed looking as fragile and ready to break. Sylvester might have broken down then but he had to stay strong. Like he had with Megan, he had to conquer his fears for Walter to.

….

Toby was running through everything the doctor had said. Bruised lung, broken ribs, broken fingers, concussion. He could clearly see the bruise forming around Walter's cheekbone. There was purple and yellow finger marks around Walter's neck, which would stay there for a long time. Toby felt almost light headed, before he had barely registered how Walter looked, the adrenalin spiking through him as they got Walter to the hospital. Now, he saw his friend unconscious and he hated the man that had caused this.

…

I'll kill him, Happy thought. She meant it. Walter was the bravest and most idiotic person Happy knew, for all his 197 IQ and he was the least deserving of this treatment. Happy had been in that basement, had recognised numerous tools, she used them on a daily basis herself. She couldn't stop herself imagining that man using the tools she loved on Walter. She hated herself for not getting there fast. For not being able to make that man pay. But he would, he would pay for doing this to Walter. For doing this to the team.


	7. Chapter 7

Paige hadn't moved since she'd gotten here. Sylvester had volunteered to take Toby home, while Cabe had gone to check on where homeland where with finding Adem Kasim. Happy and Toby had gone with the agent, anger so obvious in their faces.

Looking at Walter, she could almost forget he had a 197 IQ and that without him, Scorpion would never have become a reality. Him hurting, hurt the team. All of them. "You need to wake up, Walter. The team need you." Paige whispered. She had a hold of his hand, careful not to jostle his broken fingers too much.

…..

Cabe was waiting outside the 2 story house. Sylvester, Toby and Happy had been going through security footage, illegally obtained but right now Cabe couldn't care less. They'd finally found him, with the help of their systems, hiding out in this house. Of course they'd wanted to come over but Cabe had persuaded the team to go back to the hospital. Paige needed a break from the hospital, spend some time with her son. Not that Cabe expected her to do so.

A knock on the car window startled Cabe out of his thoughts. "What the hell are you two doing here?" He nearly yelled as Toby and Happy climbed into the back of the SUV.

"Sylvester took Ralph to the hospital but we couldn't leave you alone. What if something went wrong?" Toby's tone was sarcastic but it was steely. Happy didn't say anything, just glared at the house in front of her.

"Fine, but don't even think about doing anything stupid." Cabe growled, looking specifically at Happy. The mechanic looked ready to murder Adem Kasim if she saw him.

We're ready when you are sir. A voice came through on the comms and Cabe turned around to look at the two geniuses. "I will be 10 minutes." Cabe announced. Grabbing his gun, Cabe went to the front door.

….

A bang came from inside the house and Happy saw someone running away from the house. "Hold on doc." She shouted, not giving Toby a chance to think about anything before jumping into the driver's seat.

The SUV flew down the street and Happy kept her foot on the pedal, ignoring the way Toby was turning green. "Drop me off here." Toby shouted, seeing Kasim running down an alley. Happy grunted, halting the SUV and setting off again as soon as Toby was out of the van.

She pulled up outside the other end of the van only just hoped Toby would be able to stop the man from getting past him as she ran down the alley, towards Kasim and Toby coming straight behind him.

Kasim glanced behind him and back at Happy before running full pelt towards her. Bad mistake, she thought as she grabbed a wooden plank that was lying on the alley floor. As soon as he came within hitting distance, Happy swung back and struck his stomach.

Adem went down with a thump, going to stagger back to his feet but at that moment Cabe appeared, pointing his gun straight at Kasim. "Not so fast." Happy could tell the agent wasn't happy but she was seeing red. This was the man who had hurt Walter, alive. He didn't deserve to be alive and unhurt while Walter was still unconscious in a hospital.

"Happy, don't. Walter wouldn't want that." Toby murmured into her hair, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"I don't care! He hurt Walt." Happy yelled, not realising tears were coming to her eyes. In all her life, Happy Quinn had never gotten emotional. Angry, yes, but never upset. Never as angry and as upset as she was now.

"You are friends of Walter O'Brien?" Adem Kasim asked, his hand in his pocket and Happy could see the instant Toby realised what was going to happen. Before she could do anything, Toby had pushed her to the ground and Cabe and two gun blasts had gone off.

….

Toby looked up from where he was lying on top of Happy. In other circumstances he would have said a sarcastic comment but right now he was just worried. Assessing himself, he found he was fine. No blood, nothing hurting. Standing up, he looked at Happy, knowing he would see she was fine. He'd made sure to cover her before the gun even went off.

Happy was a bit ruffled and she looked pissed but otherwise fine. Good. Turning around, Toby looked at Cabe. The federal agent held his gun in front of him and Adem Kasim was bleeding. The gun shot having gone through his shoulder and his gun feet away from him. Toby picked it up quickly.

"You should have killed him." Happy growled, glaring at the man that had hurt Walter.

"That's not what Walter would want. It isn't logical." Toby replied, looking at Cabe.

"I've got this, take her home." Cabe confirmed, never once taking his gun from Kasim.

….

"Get off me, doc!" Happy shouted, pushing Toby's hovering hand away from her. "I'm fine."

"That is exactly what Walter always says and he's never fine. Just like you aren't now." Toby replied, keeping his voice calm.

"I don't need analysing." Happy growled, knowing exactly what Toby was thinking as he looked at her. "Just let me…."

"What, hurt him like he did Walter?" Toby interrupted, standing in front of her. "You don't think that's what I want, what Cabe and Sylvester and Paige want to. To hurt that sick son of a bitch that hurt our friend. But we can't Happy. Think about what Walter would want. He wouldn't want any of us to hurt anyone else. We can't."

"He hurt Walter." Happy growled but she could feel the anger disappearing.

"I know." Toby replied. Happy did something she had never expected to do, allow the shrink to wrap his arms around him and allowed her shields to drop as she hugged him back.


End file.
